Going under the handle of cruz_nikolas (since removed), the former Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School student reveled in showing off his fixation with guns and knifes.

A timeline going back as far as 2015- 2016 hinted at the increasing discord of the former student who had been expelled at his former school following a series of disturbances.

A 2016 post shows Cruz posting a photo of a shotgun and said he wanted to buy it, writing, ‘I plan on getting this but I need more information on it so if someone could give advice on how much I’m spending and background cheeks please to god let me know.’ Here’s that photo:

Nikolas Cruz Instagram

The suspect posted about a Google search for the phrase “Allahu Akbar” in 2015 but the caption said, “Well at least we now know what it means when a sand durka says ‘allahu Akbar’ ??????” He also posted a graphic of a bull’s eye with bullet holes in it, that contains the phrase “Group therapy, sometimes it works.” He wrote in a caption: “It really does f*cking work give it a try ;).”

According to the Miami Herald , Cruz was a known threat. “A teacher at the school told the Miami Herald that Cruz, 19, had been identified as a potential threat to fellow students in the past,” reported the newspaper, saying that Cruz was accused in the past of making threats.

A student, who was not identified, but claims to know Cruz told WSVN he was obsessed with guns and showed him pictures of them on his phone.

‘He’s been a troubled kid and he’s always had a certain amount of issues going on. He shot guns because he felt it gave him, I guess, an exhilarating feeling.’

He added that Cruz made him nervous.

‘I stayed clear of him most of the time. My time in alternate school, I did not want to be with him at all because I didn’t want to cause any conflict with him because of the impression he gave off.’

At one point, so heightened were concerns about Cruz, that the former student, by then a known security threat, was not allowed to carry a backpack to school last year. Whether police had been called to interview the suspect and conduct a search of his home was not immediately known….